daily outfit Archives - Page 45 of 70

On mittens, and making time for sewing

13/07/2012 7:31 am \ 14 Comments \ Carolyn

Rootling around in my winter woollies; I realised that I had never devoted a post before now to these mittens.
I knitted them yonks ago: probably when the children were really tiny, and probably using leftovers from one or another of my hand-knitted fair isle cardigans and jumpers that I was very keen on making at the time, and which have mostly appeared on this blog already. The yarn is Patons 8ply, my yarn of choice for years and years and years because it came in a gloriously huge range of colours, tailor-made for lovers of fair isle knitting, and which sadly seems to be no more.
I have no memory of the pattern I used, but it is obviously a Scandinavian design, no? (Later edit; Lydert advised that it is likely a true Fair Isle design from Scotland… thank you Lydert!)
I still love to wear them on really frosty mornings, that is; as long as the finer motor skills are not required 🙂
Each row has two strands of yarn, one carried behind the other, to form the colourful fair isle pattern. The backs of the hands are still looking quite presentable, but unfortunately the palms are a bit fluffy now through wear. But I think they still have a good many years left in them! I think I will try to make for myself a new adapted pattern based on these, because just now I have noticed that the area around the base of the thumb is just a tad too tight across my hand. I think the tightness is a minor detail that never bothered me before. When I was a wee young strapping thing I was very accepting of minor discomforts in my handmade clothing and it is only as I have got more, er, mature (haha) that I have become more picky and fussy about The Perfect Fit.
Will keep you posted on the progress of that pattern…

Details:
Mittens; knitted by me, using Patons 8ply merino
Jumper; knitted by me to my own design, using Jo Sharp’s Aran Tweed, details here
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, black stretch corduroy, details here
Socks; handknit by me, details here
Ugg boots

I was highly flattered when Carole and Gilly both asked how I manage my sewing time, and even what was my schedule for weekly sewing… thank you so much for the interest ladies!
My “schedule” is a very NON-scheduled kind of a schedule, really. A Clayton’s schedule. The schedule you have when you’re not having a schedule, y’know 😀 That’s another antipodean-ism there btw…
Lately I am trying a new tack; to limit myself to just one project a week, and no more. I figure; forcing myself to slow down means naturally paying plenty of attention to the finer details and finishing things off properly. I’m not doing toooo bad about sticking to that one 🙂 but (blush) I do still have three more finished things to show here, just awaiting me taking some photographs and sitting down to write something coherent about them. Often this bit takes me longer than the sewing bit 🙂
I don’t sew every day, but often if I am idly passing my laundry door I’m suddenly possessed and propelled by some mad demonic force beyond my control, over to the sewing machine, picking up whatever is on the go and doing a little bit. Sometimes that little bit turns into a lot, as the sewing demon evilly tempts me to put off whatever it is I should be doing, just to do a little bit more sewing. Oh, I’ll just put in this zip, or oh, I’ll just finish off this pocket, or whatever. Oh, I really should walk away right now and NOT apply that iron-on interfacing to the collar… oh woops, look I just did. Now I really just have to sew it together now, darnit…
Other times I might have just put on a load of washing and suddenly woosh! I awake from a trance to find myself sitting at my sewing machine, doing just some little thing more. The sewing demon is powerful, I tell you. Cunning too.
It gets particularly malevolent when I am all enthused and excited about a new project. I will be super-restless about getting on with it, and obsessively think about it every moment I am not right there with it, working on it. My raincoat was one of those projects; I worked on it solidly for several days. feverishly plotting over the minutiae of the construction details and the best possible order it should all go together.
Until it was finished. Then I am at peace and the demon is appeased.
This house is clean.
well, momentarily anyway…. mwahahaha 😉

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, knitting, mittens, random life stuff, Sienna

Operation Raincoat

01/07/2012 12:38 am \ 50 Comments \ Carolyn

Warning: distinctly un-humble and boastful post to follow…
I have made this; my first ever raincoat… :0 and I am thrilled!!!!! with how it turned out!
Making a raincoat is one of the scary things I have always wondered was too hard for me, whether the technicalities were beyond me. Now I have successfully made one I feel like I have achieved another small step toward having an entirely me-made wardrobe.

Thank you so much to all who left a comment regarding good quality raincoat fabric sources 🙂
I checked each and every one of your recommendations.
I found extremely helpful this article written by Caroline, the link sent to me by bloodsweatshoptears. Caroline wrote about making a waterproof cycling jacket and included bundles of relevant and very interesting information for the outdoor-gear sewing newbie like myself. And the jacket she made is so awesomely fantastic and inspiring…
Caroline’s article included a link to another very very informative article on how to choose rainwear, which I read and reread. This article really helped me to honestly assess what I actually wanted from my raincoat… which was: another raincoat almost exactly like my old one!

I had bought my previous old raincoat at Kmart for our eldest son Tim when he was about ten years old. After he had worn it for a coupla years I had to buy him a new official school uniform one, so his old navy blue one became mine. I have worn it and worn it pretty solidly every rainy winter’s day since … and Tim is now 22 years old, so you can see the old raincoat has done very good service! The only reason I am replacing it is because it is finally starting to fall apart…. so, I did a close inspection of the old one to work out what to copy and what I could improve. And this is what I did, and have learnt…

I used my old raincoat to help me draft a new pattern: I didn’t have to chop it up to do this, but this would be an excellent plan for someone who hasn’t done much self-drafting. It has raglan sleeves, a hood and a high, inner collar. I incorporated a few, very minor, fitting alterations and small design improvements at this stage.
I decided my raincoat doesn’t need to keep me warm, just dry; so: waterproof, non-breathable fabric, something like nylon ripstop would be the best. I knew from my old one that this kind of fabric does keep one plenty warm enough in our climate already.
I wanted a full lining in my new raincoat. My husband’s raincoat has a polyester net lining; something akin to the fabric school sports shirts are made of; that is smooth and comfortable and very nice against the skin. I added this to my shopping list.

Now, I am sure everyone is dying to know where I bought this awesomely gorgeous fabric (hehe, kidding!)
Well: I browsed the online fabric stores, and had even bookmarked a few and was pretty much all set to BUY, when, like, the next day, I happened to be passing Spotlight and thought it would be worth going in to check out the separating zips. Well, you never know whether the ones you are buying online are dearer than Spotlight, and I’ve always found their zips, while not plentifully stocked, to be very reasonably priced. And while I was there, I idly checked out the fabrics; and hey, whaddyaknow? Nylon ripstop! The colour selection was not huge, but it was definitely cheaper than any I had seen online, so I picked up some royal blue plus a glow-in-the-dark green for trim, just for fun. Polyester net? They didn’t have exactly the same sort that was in my husband’s raincoat, but they did have some that seemed pretty good, so I picked that up too… Velcro? check! Zips? check! Cording and cord-stops? check and check! Spotlight is a much maligned store, and frequently by me, too 🙂 but I have to eat my words now since they had almost everything I needed! The only thing they did not have was some of that marvellous Seam Grip I have read about to waterproof my seams… but I recalled reading that its primary use is in tents and camping stuff, and barely 50m away from the front door of my Spotlight is a BCF store (Boating Camping and Fishing); practically next door. So I popped in, and yes of course they had Seam Grip. I promptly bought some. I was all set!!
The nylon ripstop can be cut just with ordinary household scissors, so I did not blunt my good dressmaking shears on it… bonus!

One can’t use pins willynilly since it has to be waterproof! But when necessary I pinned within the seam allowances.
Not for looks (since the raincoat is fully lined) but for extra waterproofing, I sewed all the seams as French seams; bar some of the internal pocket seams which are inside the coat and so are not a waterproofing issue.

I ironed the seam allowances “up”, against gravity (another waterproofing tip) before topstitching in place.

Seam Grip is messy stuff. Apparently it is the best product around for this job, but check out the fine print; it contains toluene. This is nasty… back in the dark ages when I was an analytical chemist I would have only opened a bottle of this substance in a fume-cupoboard. Not having access to a fume cupboard anymore, I worked outside and used disposable rubber gloves. I cloaked Bessie in plastic bags to protect her (not that she is susceptible to carcinogens….) and draped and pegged my half-finished coat inside out to do the seam sealing.

I left it to cure for 12 hours, and kept on going out regularly to pull apart the bits like the underarms, that were sticking to themselves; to ensure nothing became permanently glued together. Even when fully set I have found the Seam Grip has a tendency to stick to itself. Having the lining in has alleviated the problem somewhat, but not completely. I sure hope it de-stickifies eventually :S

Ventilation: meaning, an aperture for one’s body heat to escape outside; is a must in waterproof non-breathable garments. So I copied a feature from my old raincoat and hammered in two eyelets under each of the arms, at the back. These, as well as the eyelets in the hood for the cording (pictured below), are each re-inforced on the inside with an extra four layers of self-fabric, for strength.

Quick and simple velcro-lined tabs to tighten the wrists. I’ve used something like these on my old raincoat for the last dozen or so years: so they’re second nature to me and I am accustomed to them, so I copied them exactly for my new one. No need to re-invent the wheel, right?

Waterproof pockets; an essential. These have a full-width flap that is an extension of the upper front, covering a zippable pouch that is an extension of the lower front. These are similar in design to the ones on my old raincoat; I simply extended them so they are much wider, thus eliminating seams. In fact, at the sides they extend out to and in to, the side seams and the front placket. Less stitching therefore simpler to construct and finish off, and you get wider pockets! What’s not to love about that? (I can do a tute on these pockets, if anyone is interested. I’m frankly a bit terrified of doing tutes now, but I am pretty chuffed with how they turned out, so please let me know, ok? 🙂 )

This has been a fun learning curve.
Of course, eagle-eyed Perth readers will instantly see that I could not possibly have taken these photos during the last 4 days, since it has been unrelentingly sunny. Truth: I raced out to take these during some early morning showers last Wednesday, but have been too apathetic to even look at my photos since then, let alone write up this post. But anyway, here we are. And I am sure we will get more rain soon. Hopefully.
And yes, flushed with my own sewing success, another raincoat is already in the pipeline, this one for Cassie…. 😉 stay tuned!

Details:
Raincoat; self-drafted, with the help of an old one, nylon ripstop with polyester net lining
Skirt; Vogue 1247 lengthened and lined, red cotton velveteen ombre dyed brown, details here and my review of this pattern here
Leggings; self-drafted, red cotton jersey, details here
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough (now renamed Eco-boutique)

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: coat, daily outfit, hoodie, jacket, own design, parka

Mustard cable-knit cowl

26/06/2012 3:22 am \ 37 Comments \ Carolyn

As those clear and cold as crystal winter mornings descend upon us, and the desire to swathe oneself in warm and cosy woolies; I have finished knitting a neck-warmer thingamy-bob.
I used Rowan belle organic dk, in shade 00010. This is a 50% organic wool 50% organic cotton yarn, made in Italy; which is serendipitously appropriate given that most of the knitting was done in Italy. The rich and cosy mustard shade is one I’ve had on my fashion radar for a while now. I have been hunting for mustard-y goodness in either fabric or yarn, on and off in a desultory and increasingly despondent way for yonks, losing hope of ever seeing anything vaguely mustard-y. Then; when I spied this yarn in Calico and Ivy, I pounced!
Rather embarrassingly to admit, but this started out as my holiday project, that I took away with me on our recent trip. I started out with high flown fanciful ideas of a tall cowl with lots of sections with contrasting patterns, sorta to be like a knitting sampler. There were to be ribs, moss stitches, a few sections of squares, and alternating bands of plain and purl… all of which I started and all of which got unpicked and done over. Countless times! The final result I am wearing here which looks like, and is; a simple dimple little cable-knit cowl scarf is actually the product of a several weeks of knitting. And un-knitting. But let’s not dwell on that… 🙂
Here it is: finished, and I am satisfied.
Sometimes, simple is best, yes?

If anyone is interested, here is my “pattern”; if you can even call it that 😀

Using a 3mm circular needle, cast on 135 stitches.
(commence by inserting the needle into the first stitch cast-on, so that you are knitting in the round)
1st row; K2, K2 into the next stitch; repeat for the first round (180 stitches)
2nd row; K10, P5; repeat until the end of the round.
Repeat 2nd row 7 times.
10th row; slip next 5 stitches onto a cable needle, K the following 5 st, slip the 5 stitches from the cable needle back onto left needle and knit, P5; repeat 11 times (until the end of the round)
This is the cable row.
*Repeat 2nd row 12 times.
Repeat cable row*
Repeat from * to * until the cowl is a satisfactory length (I did another 13 repeats)
Repeat 2nd row 8 times.
K2, K2 tog, repeat until end of the round (135 stitches).
Cast off.
(this uses up about 4 and a half balls)

Details:
Scarf; handknit by me, using Rowan belle organic dk, in shade 00010 from Calico and Ivy
Jeans; Burda 7863 in khaki stretch gabardine, details and my review of this pattern here, and see these jeans styled in 6 different ways here
Tshirt; leopard print jersey knit, details here
Coat; McCalls 5525, ivory gabardine, details here and my review of this pattern here
Gloves; David Jones
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: accessories, daily outfit, knitting, own design, scarf

Paris in the spring; such a marvellous thing

16/06/2012 5:13 pm \ 30 Comments \ Carolyn

9 June
Self drafted dress, Metalicus petticoat, Vogue jacket in red silk hessian, also a self drafted Tshirt underneath (not seen) for some extra warmth. This photo above was taken by Craig on the Pont Neuf in the setting sun.
I had a perfectly lovely day, meeting up with Donna for some very enjoyable girly chatting, lunching and shopping in the fabulous fabric stores in Montmartre, and for knitting yarn at the most divine little knitting cafe L’Oisive The. It was such fun, and it was so nice to meet you Donna!

10 June
Ok, going for the touristy shot here, but when one is a tourist one is but helpless to resist, no? That’s my excuse, anyway… 😀
Here I am at the famous landmark along with about a bajillion other people… wearing my creamy ivory Vogue 1247 skirt made of a curtaining remnant, a self-drafted Tshirt (not seen), KwikSew 3667 light grey fleece hoodie (thank you Mary for this cute pattern!), and self drafted grey/beige footless tights. I confess I laughed to myself when I tossed these tights into my suitcase, thinking no way am I ever going to need these. After all, it is nearly summer in Europe, right? But I figured, oh well, tights don’t take up a lot of space, so what the hey… And here we are; and it is freezing in Paris. Thank goodness I did pop in the pair of tights!!
Now, just to note: Craig has taken all of my travelling photos so far, submitting patiently and good natured-ly to my strict instructions about where to stand and how to frame the shot although I have to admit that some photos were candid and were not stage-managed by the camera control freak (ie. me) However on this day he was attending a conference, the real reason behind our sojourn in Europe; and so this is a self portrait. I did not take my full size tripod, but used instead my little gorilla-grip tripod and the self-timer button on the camera.

11 June
Attending the conference dinner, a river cruise; and aha! I just knew I had to have brought those annoyingly space-guzzling high heels for some reason other than to just look glamorous on the plane!! Also wearing a lace skirt of my own design based on Vogue 7303, self drafted white cotton Tshirt, Colinette chenille scarf, Burda beige cotton trench coat. I had intended to deposit my trench coat in the cloak room and wear my scarf draped glamorously across my shoulders like a stole since it looks quite nice that way, but it was so cold! so I wussily did not remove my coat all evening 🙂

12 June
Self drafted and dyed purple Tshirt, Burda 7863 black stretch cotton corduroy jeans, my hand knitted fitted cardigan in chocolate brown Jo Sharp summer cotton. Another self portrait since Craig is again at the conference and I spent another quietly self-indulgent morning exploring Paris on my own. This photo taken in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Later edit!!

13 June

I got confused with the dates (easy when you’re my age) and almost forgot to include this day, which is ridiculous since it was an important one… we spent the day with our simply delightful exchange student Laura, and had the pleasure of meeting her lovely mother for lunch also. We became extremely fond of Laura during her stay with us in Perth, she was like a daughter to us and it was wonderful to see her again. Isn’t she just totally gorgeous? This blurry action shot in front of Notre Dame is the only one Craig took this day showing my outfit… my black jeans, my chocolate brown hand knitted cotton cardigan, my Colinette chenille hand knitted scarf, and not seen here but I am also wearing a self-drafted Tshirt and hand knitted socks, as usual

14 June
Taken in the Jardin des Tuileries; with the Louvre in the background. Wearing black corduroy Burda 7863 jeans, a self drafted Tshirt (not seen), the grey fleece KwikSew 3667 hoodie (thank you Mary!), and my Vogue raspberry silk hessian jacket. Oh, and hand knitted socks of course, not seen either. Our last day in Paris 🙁 but I am very glad to get home and see my children again.
And so that is that! Thank you to all those who were kind enough to comment on my travelling wardrobe and I am looking forward to catching up with returning comments now…
We are now at home and I am tackling a mountain of washing, but I do have some wonderful new fabric and wool purchases to play with, as well as a holiday knitting project that I took away with me to do, and is finished and ready for showing off as soon as I can get my photography act together again; watch this space… 🙂
Later dudes! or should that be, au revoir…?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, random life stuff

Gadding about

08/06/2012 9:46 pm \ 26 Comments \ Carolyn

4 June

Here I am about to pay a visit to my pal George Clooney in Lake Como… just kidding, hehe. I don’t know who lives in this beautiful villa in Varenna, Lake Como; but the white iron lacework gate is simply gorgeous, no?

Weatherwise, this was one of those difficult-to-dress-for, weirdly cold/hot days; freezing in the morning but quite hot by early afternoon.

I am wearing a lace skirt of my own design based on Vogue 7303, Jo Sharp fitted cardigan knitted by me in Jo Sharp chocolate brown summer cotton, Burda 7834 blouse in crushed silk (just seen).

5 June

Burda 7723 shorts in hot pink linen, peekaboo/hoodie from Pattern Magic 3 in blue knit, and socks hand knitted in Noro yarn.
A hot day with some medium-duty
hiking from Pigra to Lenna in Lake Como, Italy

6 June

Self drafted and dyed Tshirt, Vogue 1247 skirt of red cotton velveteen ombré dyed brown, Burda beige cotton trench coat.
A day in constant transit, with time spent in each of Lake Como (pleasantly warm), on a ferry (briskly windy), a train (cold), Milan (very hot) followed by another train (warm and stuffy). This combo coped pretty well!

7 June

Self drafted Tshirt, Vogue 1247 skirt of curtaining remnant, Vogue jacket of red hessian silk.
A very wet day in …. guess where! I wasn’t sure about whether these garments actually went together at first, but I ended up liking the outfit a lot!

8 June

Self drafted Tshirt, Burda 7863 black stretch cotton corduroy jeans, Burda beige cotton trench coat.
Up until now I’d been wondering if it was a waste of luggage space to pack my wintery corduroy jeans, but Paris is cooooold! This fabulous twisty sculpture is in the Jardin des Tuileries.

Kbenco suggested a round up of my travel wardrobe when I get home, thank you for the fantastic suggestion Karen! I too am very interested in what other ladies choose to pack to take away for long overseas holidays and why; so I will do a summary post at the end of my trip. That is if I do not toss the whole lot out. Just kidding. Sort of. I admit to feeling a little jaded by my travel wardrobe now, a wee bit stifled by the limited selection; and I am really looking forward to getting back to some of my other of my clothes and particularly some other shoes!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, random life stuff

Tripping

03/06/2012 5:41 pm \ 38 Comments \ Carolyn

Me made May has been successfully completed, and the majorest challenge for me this time round was putting pictures in the Flickr group… A monumental difficulty when one does not have a reliable computer! Thank goodness for Craig whose expertise with all things computer-related made it possible for me to post a picture onto the Internet using our iPad, as well as solving all sorts of unanticipated and dodgy connectivity issues. I was very pleased that I did manage to post my picture onto the Flickr group each day… And I think I managed to keep up with commenting within the group. Once we started our trip my computer time became so limited all I had time to do was post my own picture and then look at and comment on only the ladies who were kind enough to leave a comment on my own efforts, so if I left anyone out then I apologise!
When traveling of course one’s scenery is always going to be varied and interesting and I was blessed in this respect. I was also fortunate to have the rare luxury of a built-in photographer! and of course tourists are supposed to take photos of themselves, so there has been none of the usual embarrassment factor in that aspect of the challenge!
Now, what have I learned by doing this challenge for the fifth time around? Unsurprisingly not much new. Just that I really enjoy challenges that allow me to play about in my wardrobe 🙂 As far as my wardrobe goes; I have very little that is not me-made any more so finding something to wear is not a problem. I did not repeat any outfits, but a few current favourite pieces in my collection popped up more than once. And I have no gaps that need “filling” 🙂 quite the opposite ;D
Of course, being on holiday means that we are still taking photos daily! so I might extend the challenge for a bit longer, put a few more photos here, just for fun and to show some sights, and how my self-made pieces work out for travel. To see the remainder of my me-made May daily photos and a very brief summary of the day’s activities, the link to my entire set is associated with the me-made May ’12 button at right.
But in the meantime…

1 June
Self drafted dress
Metalicus petticoat
Taken on a really cool structure in the Parco Sempione in Milan, an amphitheater made of concrete with old cafe chairs embedded within for the audience to sit on. So cool! I also wore this dress during our long long flights over; because it is super comfortable and non-crushable. Important for something one will be spending hours in, and sleeping in. This ensemble is a beaut for such situations.

From Handmade by Carolyn

2 June
Taken at Lake Como, Italy
The bamboo shoot top from Pattern Magic, Vogue 1247 curtaining skirt, and chenille scarf. It was very warm in Milan thus the summery feel, but I had my chenille scarf for our train and ferry ride to Lake Como, which was chilly. Having a big warm scarf that one can “wrap up in” is indispensable when travelling. I’ve used this one heaps on the cooler evenings and for air-conditioned spots, such as the aforementioned trains.

3 June

Burda 7723 white linen shorts, a self drafted Tshirt (not seen) and a fleece KwikSew 3367 hoodie; a pattern that was a gift from the lovely Mary. Actually have worn this hoodie several times while hiking during this trip, but happened to be not for any photos. Oh, and also hand knitted socks!
Another day of reasonable heavy duty mountainous hiking, this time from Varenna to Esina Lario, at Lake Como, Italy. Taken with one of the “ghosts” at Castello di Vezio; very atmospheric mediaeval ruins, situated on a peak halfway up the mountain. Naturally, we continued on up the entire mountain!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM12, random life stuff

Green

18/05/2012 3:48 am \ 30 Comments \ Carolyn

Today’s mini photo challenge for the me-made May group is Green.
Yah, a fairly unoriginal backdrop but that is all I have time for today. I hope my ultra-smashing outfit more than makes up for it, haha.

So, talking of; I’ve seen clashing prints worn together in a few editorials lately and really liked the un-mixy-matchiness of it; so I decided to give it a whirl. And I likey! The floral and the check here are wildly different prints, but they have white and deep purple-y navy in common, tying them together, along with my old navy blue silk blazer for a bit of warmth. Navy blue was once upon a time a colour I wore daily; the colour of my school uniform. Consequently I avoided it for years. Finally I decided it actually suited me quite well, and embraced it again.

So, sorry about the post-haste nature of this, er hasty post (hehe) This may be my last for a while. We are heading away on our trip… and since I have no idea how easy or how extraordinarily difficult it will be to get on here, so will have to assume the latter.
I am reeeeeallly looking forward to meeting up with Donna while I am away… that will give some clue as to my eventual destination 😀
in the meantime, wishing everyone a perfectly luver-ly day!!

Picture taken around 10.30m; Temperature at the time 19C.
Overnight low: 11C; Today’s high: 23C
Fine and sunny

Details:
Top; based on top “a” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, blus and white polycotton, details here
Skirt; Vogue 2894, floral cotton, seen first here, and see it styled in 6 different ways here
Blazer; Simplicity 4698, navy blue raw silk, seen first here, and see this styled in 6 different ways here
Thongs; KMart

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM12

The Dingo Flour Mill

17/05/2012 9:08 am \ 24 Comments \ Carolyn

Thank you so much for the positive comments, and I’m so glad my featured Perth landmarks are giving some extra interest and enjoyment to the usual rather repetitive “outfit shots” that I admit I am getting just a tad tired of myself…. :S I know, barely halfway through and already: sad, huh?
My location today takes in the Dingo Flour Mill, a working flour mill that has been on this site since the 20’s. The big red dingo painted on the side is an iconic image here in Perth. These heritage listed buildings are right across the road from the dog beach where I walk my own dog with a frequency that this blog can attest to 🙂 It was a tough call! but I forwent my usual favourite ocean backdrop and pointed the camera in the opposite direction this time.

Sienna was very patient, watching and waiting for me, tied to a nearby tree.

She was a very happy and satisfied doggie, given that just minutes earlier …

So; a very appropriate me-made May photo given my actual daily activities with my very own, real-life, red dog, no?

My outfit is nothing new and has been seen here before, but is still a firm favourite, one I wear with monotonous regularity during the colder months. So much so that I don’t know what I will do when it is no more.
There is just something about it I love to bits… and I always receive compliments whenever I wear it. (The former no doubt influenced by the latter 😀 )

Picture taken around 12.30m; Temperature at the time 21C.
Overnight low: 8C; Today’s high: 21C
Some sun, some cloud; fine all day

Details:
Top; the twist top from the Japanese pattern book Pattern Magic, by Tomoko Nakamichi, charcoal jersey knit, details here
Skirt; self-drafted, made from the same fabric.
Shoes; Enrico Antinori, from Zomp shoes

btw, my husband thought the uncropped photo to be far more interesting, so here it is for comparison…